Trail maps to iPod

I am a geographer and geography-lover, so I am naturally a big fan of Google Earth and quite envious of those with handheld GPS receivers– especially folks hiking in back-country wilderness areas. Well, it appears I don’t have to keep saving money for a new GPS unit to enjoy the benefits of technology in the outdoors, especially since I have an iPod. Now, there is TrailrunnerX:

TrailRunner is a route planning software for all kinds of long distance sports like running, biking, hiking, inline-skating, skiing and more. If you ever asked yourself how long your workout routes are and what route you should choose for this evening — then TrailRunner should be your training-partner. TrailRunner can calculate a route for your desired distance and export directions onto your iPod, giving you a detailed orientation while you are on your way.

Trailrunner is currently donationware, which means if you like it a donation is highly encouraged. Eventually it may become shareware. I will definitely be giving this a trial run this summer when our family travels to Yellowstone Park and the surrounding areas for a family reunion!

Trailrunner supports not only sharing of routes, but also rating of routes:

You know iTunes? You know how to rate a song using the intuitive star-rating? You know how to create a play-list? Well, a route is not so different to this. Rate you favorite tracks or route segments and comment them. Then use the automatic route layout feature where you select a starting point and let the application calculate a route suggestion based on your most highly rated tracks. You don’t like the suggestion? Just modify it to the point where it meets your expectations. The suggestion lies in an area of your map where you do not want to run today? Start creating a route into the area that you want to head into and let the application find the way back with a result that will exactly meet the amount of kilometers you had in mind.

You can (not surprisingly) also connect GPS devices to Trailrunner, like the Garmin ForeRunner series (“wearable fitness GPS”):

Watch the Forerunner video on the Garmin website, this is such cool technology! Makes me even consider running… hmmm, maybe that can be my justification for a cool new father’s day present from Garmin?! 🙂 Check out the Trailrunner blog for more info and updates.

Link via Devin Henley. TrailrunnerX runs on Macintosh OS X only.